Troubled Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell is to take a break from the show to get help for "personal issues", ITV has said.

The 49-year-old actor, who plays mechanic Kevin Webster on the soap, only recently started filming again on Weatherfield's famous cobbled streets after being cleared of child sex offences.

It follows recent newspaper reports that Le Vell snorted cocaine in the run-up to his four-week trial last year. A jury found him not guilty of 12 child sex offences at Manchester Crown Court in September.

An ITV spokeswoman said: " Coronation Street and Michael Le Vell have mutually agreed that he will take a break from the programme whilst he seeks professional help for personal issues."

Le Vell's private life was laid bare during his trial last year with revelations of his heavy drinking and adultery.

He admitted to being an alcoholic and a serial philanderer who even cheated on his wife while she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Le Vell, who has starred in Coronation Street for more than 30 years, is set to appear in the soap for about six weeks from late March in previously recorded episodes.